Debate over anti-smoking plan

A proposal to ban smoking in al fresco outdoor dining and drinking areas has been cautiously supported by Tauranga's mayor Stuart Crosby and some councillors.

Mr Crosby said it would be simpler if the Government passed a law prohibiting the practice, but if it ended up being left to individual councils to pass bylaws then the council would have to get the community's views.

He was responding to Local Government New Zealand passing a remit this week asking the Government to implement legislation to prohibit smoking outside bars, cafes and restaurants.

Mr Crosby said there was less tolerance now to smoking in outdoor dining areas and a ban would be part of the journey towards New Zealand being smoke free by 2025.

He said there had been a strong informal consensus among the council to support the remit. It would be simpler and less confusing for smokers if a ban was imposed across the whole country.

Councillor Steve Morris also hoped that the Government would deal with it nationally. "At the end of the day, it is not something unique to certain areas. But if it came back to councils to decide, then I would need to have a good think about it."

Cr Morris said that although he did not like sitting in an environment with smoking going on, he was philosophically a little wary of regulations. It was a bit like fireworks in which he did not want to become a killjoy.

The council would have to take account of the probability that the Government would make councils responsible for enforcing a law. "I suspect we are a little bit light with monitoring anyway."

Cr Leanne Brown said it would be a good incremental step to New Zealand becoming smoke free. The former Mount Maunganui Mainstreet manager, who disliked dining outside next to a smoker, said introducing such a measure would meet with resistance from bar and cafe owners.

She said some smokers were very considerate while others made the most of sitting where they could. Cr Brown said she was not saying that smokers were in the wrong, but going forward she wanted to make it more pleasant now that non-smokers were the big majority.

Councillor John Robson said that although smoking was legal, the bottom line was that it was not smart. While there was a pure libertarian argument that people should be able to do what they liked, ultimately smoking would go the way of bear baiting.

It was a good thing that smoking was declining and sometimes people just needed a nudge to quit, he said.